Project description
Ancient pathogen genomics to understand medieval prostitution
The archaeology of prostitution has primarily focused on describing the structural features of brothels rather than making meaningful observations about the people who worked in these environments. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the SEXWARC project aims to refocus scientific research on female sex workers by using human remains as a new source of information for studying past sex work. The project seeks to understand the health and living conditions of women who worked as sex workers in the Middle Ages. It combines recent advances in ancient DNA research of pathogens with unique skeletal populations excavated from identified red-light districts of medieval cities in the County of Flanders.
Objective
SEXWARC contributes to a paradigm shift in the archaeology of prostitution. The discipline has thus far mainly been limited to a description of the structural features of which brothels are constituted, but struggles to make meaningful observations when it comes to the people who have worked in these environments. This project aims to put female sex workers back at the centre of our scientific work, by focussing on human remains as a new source of information for the study of past sex work.
The main objective is to get a grip on the health and living conditions of these women in the Middle Ages. I will do this by combining – for the very first time – recent advances in ancient DNA research of pathogens with some unique skeletal populations excavated in identified red light districts of medieval cities in the County of Flanders.
As a crossover between the archaeology of sex work and ancient pathogen genomics, I will integrate both the Division of Medieval Archaeology and the Archaeo- and Paleogenetics group at the University of Tübingen. Under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Natascha Mehler and mentoring of Prof. Dr. Cosimo Posth, globally acknowledged as experts in their respective domains, this Action will allow to establish myself as an independent scholar with a highly strategic profile and as a future leader of an interdisciplinary research group in historical archaeology.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics
- humanities history and archaeology history medieval history
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
72074 Tuebingen
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.